Painted Paper Kimonos

Kimonos are commonly worn in Japan for celebrating New Year's Day. 
This project is a great visual spacial activity as well as focusing on having children crossing mid-line (for example right hand painting from left side to right side). 
Activities in which mid-line is crossed are great for helping the left and right hemispheres communicate, needed for many life functions, including reading and writing. 

You will need:
art paper
paint - we used tempera
paint brushes
india ink (may substitute black tempera if you are concerned about staining)

Provide paper, paint and brushes and have children paint one side of the by blending the colors together and painting in one direction from right to left (or left to right) across the page. 
Let this side dry and then paint the other side using the same technique. Using contrasting colors for the front and back side gives a visually stunning result. 
When it is dry have children paint decorations such as blossoms, dragons or cranes with india black ink or black paint. 
In the pieces below, the children used cotton swap tips to paint the blossom of the tree. 

Fold the kimono being sure the lay the decorative side is face up. 

Begin with a sheet of paper. 
In this example we have a regular piece of 8-1/2" x 11" of copy paper. 
Fold the top about 1-1/2"-2".

Fold the sides in using the same measurements of 1-1/2"-2".

Pull the side and top fold down in the corners to form a triangle.  
Do this for the other side as well. 

Below, children used stamps made out of endive ends with gold paint and a red dot inside using a cork and red paint to make kimono buttons. You can substitute a small, new potato cut in half for the endive.

Happy New Year!